DEAR TAMMY,

With Abbie dead,

                    and Ginsberg aging,

        with the Haight gentrified into oblivion,
                                                  and Woodstock Nation a mere dying ember,

           ("Baby boomers will turn 50 this year," )

                           with all seeming lost,

                    the clocking ticking, and the Titanic sinking
            one last time, clinging to a deck chair
                                            cast adrift on frigid, swelling seas,

        I see through half-shut eyes, losing

                                consciousness (not just political, but any),

             the great white ships of the U.S. Coast Guard

                                                steaming in, amid wild cheers
                                                                                              from the lifeboats,

                                                          to save
                                                                                                           the counter-culture!


To a former student, a Coast Guard cadet, after reading in the NY Times
that Guardsmen are practicing yoga and meditation to help them deal
with the stress of their jobs.
March 1996



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